


After-School Skeptics

by Perth (Ikana_Trash)



Series: ASS-Ventures [2]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Conspiracy Theories, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Gen, M/M, Original Character(s), POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Teacher Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, can’t really think of tags rn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikana_Trash/pseuds/Perth
Summary: With the world reset and restored, Jon begins his first day as a teacher.And he’s teaching the former members of ASS...and they seem to recognize him... sort of
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: ASS-Ventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085531
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. A Storm is Brewing

**Author's Note:**

> HALT!! Please read “Survivors” First for a background on my OCs and just the overall events that happened!  
> You could skip to this, but you’ll be missing a shit ton of context

Thankfully, none of ASS recognized him, though they did give him strange stares when they thought he wasn’t looking. He tried to brush it off as them staring and his abundance of scars as everyone else was doing, but they were staring much more intently then the others. He refused to pry into their minds. He had near complete control over the powers that came with the Eye now, so he didn’t have to worry about that anymore, luckily. He let out a breath as He finished packing his things up and slung his bag over his shoulders,

“Mr. Sims, may I speak to you?” Jon looked up as he heard a young man’s voice at the doorway. A co-worker, George George. Strange to have the same first name as a last name but he ignored that,

“Yes, Mr. George?” He asked, Turing to him. George took in a breath,

“In about a week, we’ll have some university students learning to become teachers coming in to be student-teachers. Just as a heads up, you may have one join one of your classes,” Jon nodded,

“Thank you for letting me know, now, I must get going,” George gave him a smile and waved as he left, presumably to go tell other teachers. 

The walk back home was... refreshing. No screams of pain lingered in the air, the little fear that was there was children and teachers fearing the first day of school, as many did. He took in a breath, relishing the cleanliness of the air, the lack of fear and the overall calm. It was amazing, yet there was still that part of him that craved the fear, the knowledge and everything else he didn’t want. He was going to have to find a way to get statements now that the institute wasn’t a thing anymore. He supposed reading new books would just have to suffice for now.

“Martin, I’m home!” He announced as he stepped through the doors. He heard a quiet clash and Martin came out of the kitchen into the hallway,

“Welcome home! How was your first day?” Jon shrugged,

“Got the school layout in my head and I know all the teachers and my students,” Martin smiled,

“Well, I guess that’s useful to have, then?” Jon nodded,

“Yeah, I guess, I’m just nervous I’ll somehow mess something up,” He shucked off his bag and dropped it on the floor, leaning forward on Martin who embraced him,

“You’ll do fine, Jon,”

“I’m glad you think so, Martin...” 

* * *

The next day, Jon had his notes prepared. The first day was mostly just introductions and such, so now he had a proper plan. They were going to review their vocabulary and go over their grammar for Latin, then when students came in for English he’s do the same thing. He sat back in his chair as he waited for his first class. It went by pretty well enough, but he kept getting distracted by his hunger. He was really going to have to find a new book soon to read.

By the time second period came around, he was ready for Sarah, Thorn and Quinten to walk in. After he gave a quick introduction, he handed everyone a review so he could evaluate their current level. Once everyone had their small booklet, he went to his desk and picked up a book he found. As he read, he felt the gaze of three students on him. He didn’t need to look up to know it was Sarah, Thorn and Quinten eyeing him down, but he was still shifting uncomfortably shifting under their gaze. He never liked the feeling of being watched, and after everything he went through in recent years, well, it really didn’t help. He tried his best to ignore it, and when the bell rang for lunch, he dismissed the class and took the kids’ reviews on their way out.

* * *

“Mr. Sims is weird,” Thorn barely heard Sarah comment after they’d left the class, 

“Yeah... I feel like I’ve seen him but I’m sure I’d remember if I met someone like him,” Sarah gave a nod,

“Yeah, same with me! And with the way that other guy was staring at Mr. Sims I think he’s the same,” 

“Who?” Sarah paused as she thought,

“Uh... the Guy with the glasses that never talks?” 

“Ooohh, him! Yeah, I think his name is like, Greg or something,”

“Quinten.” 

“WAH!!” Thorn quickly turned around to see the man himself, walking behind her and Sarah. Thorn nearly tripped on her feet as she turned to face him, Sarah having to catch her to make sure she didn’t fall, “God, You scared me!” Quinten shrugged and gave an eerie smile, “I’ve never heard you speak, you don’t talk in class,” Thorn added on, nervous,

“I would like to convey that I too experience strange familiarity around Mr. Sims,” Quinten spoke flatly. Sarah was even more pale then before as she stared at Quinten in fear, who simply smiled back, “I suspect we are not the only ones to feel such a way...” Quinten added on. Thorn slowly nodded,

“So, what?”

“I intend to find out why,” Quinten spoke quietly, then... he turned and left. He was gone. 

* * *

Quinten was vaguely aware of the gods, and he knew enough to recognize someone who had contact with one. He recognized something about Mr. Sims. He was marked by a bunch of gods, but Quinten wasn’t a blessed one himself so he had trouble discerning which. They’d tried to make him a blessed one, but the police interfered before it was complete and he only made it out with extremely weak control over already existing flames and the ability to recognize blessed ones and those marked. He wondered if Mr. Sims recognized him as an almost-blessed one. Perhaps that was why he felt vaguely similar, but that didn’t explain why some other kids seemed to feel that way. The other students had been marked by gods, though Quinten didn’t know which ones, but they weren’t the only ones. There were others in the school marked by a god that hadn’t expressed a sense of familiarity with Mr. Sims. It was specifically him, Thorn, Sarah, and possibly Draire, that grade 10 that he helped the day before. He began to wonder if there were others that would recognize Mr. Sims given the chance to meet him. He wonder how many had the familiarity plaguing them. If Mr. Sims was in fact a blessed one, it seemed that he was just trying to live a normal life, but Quinten was prepared to kill again if need be. He knew he shouldn’t be so willing and ready to kill. He knew he shouldn’t be so nonchalant when it came to such a subject. He knew other people didn’t like to talk about killing. It wasn’t normal... to them. They thought it was something to fear. Quinten thought- no, he Knew, He knew it was something he could utilize. Others may brush off the topic, others may shift away from it, but he would embrace it. He’d always done so, so why change now? It was how he was taught, it was what he believed. Sure, the police and the people at the centre tired convincing him he was taught lies, but he couldn’t simply just throw his beliefs away because some people told him to. He was aware of the pain and suffering he caused just by supporting the Cult of the Lightless Flame, but he found that that didn’t bother him. It should. It really should bother him, but... it didn’t... 

and so, with a smile, he clenched the knife in his pocket fondly and continued walking to lunch, comforted by the presence of his knife.

* * *

“D’you know anything about what class you’ll be sitting in, yet?” Lusmon turned at the sound of Perry’s voice, 

“Not yet. It’s still a week or two away, so they’re still working it out and all,” Perry shrugged, and reached to her pocket, only to find it empty. She patted her sides, searching for the missing weight,

“Where’d you put m-“

“You agreed to trying to quit, remember?” Perry groaned,

“Oh come on! Just this one time, please!” Lusmon shook her head,

“No, Perry! If I let you smoke now, you won’t be making any progress!” Perry closed her eyes and sunk down in her chair where she was sitting,

“Lusmon, please, Just... Please, I need it,” Lusmon stared at Perry for a moment, almost as if thinking about it,

“No.” Lusmon spoke firmly as she eyed down Perry. There was an uncomfortable silence for about a minute until Perry cleared her throat,

“Well, thanks for the lunch, I gotta get to work now, bye,” Perry stood up and placed her bowl next to the dishwasher, grabbing a bag by the door and putting on a cap and shoes, “Love you,” Perry gave a quick kiss to Lusmon’s forehead,

“Good bye, I love you, too,” Perry smiled and left, closing the door with perhaps a bit too much force, causing Lusmon to slightly flinch at the loud noise. Time to clean, now that Perry was gone and Lunch was done.

* * *

With the last period finally over, Jon was ready to go back home to see Martin. Just like the previous day, he grabbed his bag, making sure all his papers were in it, then slung it over his shoulder and waved to any other teachers or students he saw as he left the building. George had given him a strange look as he left the building, but the man let him leave without a word.

* * *

“Hey Ma, I’m home,” Thorn spoke loudly as she entered the house, “Before you ask, School was whatever,” She heard he mother sigh as she walked past the kitchen where she was no doubt cleaning,

“Thorn...”

“What?”

“I got a call from your teacher today,” 

“It’s only the second day! What is ther-“ Her mom cut her off by simply holding her hand up,

“He told me you were extremely unfocused in class, today,” Thorn let out a breath and walked into the Kitchen and sat at the table. Clearly this wasn’t something they could talk about while Thorn stood in the doorway, 

“Which teacher? I have three male teachers this semester,”

“Mr. Sims,” Thorn’s eyes widened. Had he noticed that she was staring at him during class? Or perhaps he noticed the lack of work she did on her review booklet? 

“Did he say anything else?” Thorn asked cautiously. Her mom shook her head,

“Just called us to say that you seemed unfocused. Honestly, the guy seemed concerned you were somehow hurt or something,” her mom Shrugged and turned back to the cloth in her hand then waved, “that’s all, You can go to your room now and do whatever you do,” Thorn nodded and stood up, leaving her mom to clean the kitchen, “Your father’s gonna be home in about two hours,”

“Yeah yeah, okay,”


	2. A club is formed

“Hey Jon, You got a new email!” Jon heard Martin say as he came in with some tea, placing it in front of him,

“Yeah?” Martin nodded, taking a seat next to Jon,

“Says something about a university student student joining your English class,” Martin said, “ _It is with great pleasure to announce that you will be a host to a student from university to help them achieve the first hand experience needed to become a teacher,_ ” Martin read, “ _The student you will be having in you class will be a student by the name of Lusmon Kart..._ ” Martin stopped and looked to Jon, “Fuck.” 

“I must say I agree with you on that one,” Jon muttered as he took a sip of his tea, “What’s next? I have to teach Briar or Draire? I’m already teaching Sarah, Thorn and Quinten! Why not all of them?!” He complained, tiredly. Martin snorted in amusement,

“It’ll be fine! There’s no way they’ll remember! They weren’t at the centre of it when we killed Jonah, they shouldn’t have their memories! Only us, Melanie, Georgie and Basira have our memories,” Martin reassured. Jon huffed and took another sip of his tea,

“When’d the email come in?”

“Uh, just earlier today. I promise I’ve been checking your email everyday, I just check it at different times,” Jon sighed,

“As long as you check it each day, since I can’t,” Martin nodded,

“Yeah yeah, Technology doesn’t like you and all that, I know,” Jon chuckled, 

“Now that’s an understatement!”

* * *

Thorn made up her mind. She was going to start a new club for supernatural enthusiasts. She had an announcement written up, and she’d managed to get her Woodworking teacher to agree and be their supervisor for the club. He sometimes spoke about his interest in aliens and so she figured he’d be most likely to say yes, and he did say yes.

That next day, Thorn stood nervously at the front desk, waiting for announcements to begin. She watched a few other students enter, and they made their own announcements, then one of the secretaries motioned for her. She took in a deep breath and spoke into the mic,

“A new club has been Established! It is called After-School Skeptics, and it’s a club for people interested in the supernatural! If you have an interest in Aliens, Cryptids, and the like, meet in room... uh, room 217 after school today to join the first meeting and become a member!” She ended it and let out a breath of relief. Now, to wait for the end of the day to see who would join her.

* * *

Jon had just finished reading a chapter of his book, just finished his snack, when he looked up to check in on his students during quiet reading. As he suspected, they were all silent, though not all of them were reading. One student, Darius, was on his phone. Another student, Aaqil, was signing quietly with his friend, Deen. It wasn’t actual sign language, the two best friends had come up with their own sign language and utilized it to talk during classes. Another student, Olivia, was doodling in a notebook. He let out a sigh and slowly stood up, walking over to Darius,

“Phone away, Darius,” Darius looked up, startled, and took out an earbud,

“What?”

“Phone away, Darius,” he repeated. He heard Aaqil and Deen snicker from behind him. Darius rolled his eyes and reluctantly put his phone in his sweater pocket and take out his book and begin reading. Jon gave a gentle smile and then went over to Olivia,

“Have you finished reading up to chapter 3, Olivia?” He asked quietly. The girl nodded nervously, and moved an arm to cover up what she was drawing,

“I’ve read to chapter 5, I figured I could draw since I was ahead,” Jon nodded,

“That’s perfectly fine, then,” he smiled, and let Olivia get back to her drawing. He then took in a breath and walked to Deen, where he was continuing to sign Aaqil,

“Deen. Have you and Aaqil read up to chapter 3?” 

“Uhh... Yes?” Deen spoke quietly, 

“Stop talking with Aaqil then, and read up to chap-“

“But we’re quiet! We’re not making noise! It’s sign language!”

“De-“

“I said I read up to chapter 3!”

“Dee-“

“Why don’t you believe me?!” Jon sighed and quickly glanced over to see Aaqil in the next row sitting uncomfortably as he spoke to Deen,

“Deenouth Singh, Read to chapter 3,” He turned to Aaqil and took a few steps to meet with him, “same with you, Aaqil,” Aaqil gave a nervous nod and rummaged through his backpack, pulling out his book and opening it up. Jon nodded towards the both of them and went back to his seat, to continue reading.

* * *

His next class was Latin. It was mostly review again, going over the Verb endings and Noun endings and such. After that quick review of the ending charts, he handed out a worksheet on Latin phrases and their meanings and English translations and then let the students work. 

Luckily a student came up to him before he started reading and before he entered the trance like state he went into while reading. It was... Thorn. Great,

“I left my textbook at home, Mr. Sims, I forgot what Amicus Curiae meant. And Caveat Emptor... and Dulce et decorum est p- I forgot a bunch of them, I need help,” she interrupted herself. Jon nodded and stood up, more than willing to help a student, 

“Go sit back down, I’ll sit with you and help you,” Thorn nodded, and did exactly that, going back to her seat and pushing her binder over to make room. Jon grabbed a nearby extra chair and sat to the side of Thorn’s desk,

“Okay, so which one do you want to go through first?”

“Well, I Know Ab Initio and Ad hoct and ad hominem and all the Ads, but I can’t remember what Alma mater is,” She answered. Jon nodded and look to her sheet where some of the boxes were filled in,

“Okay, well, what does Mater mean?”

“Mom,” Jon gave a nod,

“Good. Now, I see you have Alumnus down as Foster Child slash graduate,” Thorn looked to her paper then back up to Jon, “so, what do you think Alma mater means?” Thorn went quiet for a little bit then her face lit up,

“Nourishing mother or A previously attended school! Alumni!” Jon gave Thorn an encouraging smile,

“So try that with the others you don’t know, okay? If you need any more help you can always ask me,” Thorn was quiet for a bit as she filled in the box of Alma mater then looked up and nodded to Jon,

“Okay, thanks,”

* * *

Jon got about halfway into his book when he put it down and looked up to the time. Lunch would be done soon, and he didn’t want to be stuck in his own mind reading when the bell rang so he put the book away and waited. Just as he thought, the bell rang just a minute later, and kids began filtering into his class for Latin 1. Once he knew everyone was in class, he did a quick attendance check, then got to telling the class their first assignment. They all groaned when he made that announcement,

“Now, It’s not a big project or anything. I just want everyone here to find an example of Latin in their normal, everyday life,” Some kids perked up at that, “it can be anything. Maybe you’re a fan of true crime and you’re listening to a true crime podcast and someone mentions and Alibi. That is a Latin word, and it’s being used in normal, everyday life,”

“Alibi’s a Latin word?”

“I don’t watch True crime though,”

“What true crime?”

“What’s an Alibi?”

“How do you spell that?”

“I’ve heard of Alibis,”

“My dad’s a layer, I know about alibis!”

“Yeah, wait, what’s an alibi?” Jon sighed and raised a hand, trying to get everyone to quiet down. The speaking died down quickly and he let out a breath, preparing himself to speak again, 

“Like I said, it can be anything, and that was just an example. You only need one, and you’ll have to bring in your example. If it’s a character from a show saying something, then you can have subtitles turned on and take a screenshot then you can show me. If it’s something from a game, take a picture and show me. If it’s something from a book, being the book and show me,” he paused to let the kids take in the information, “please have at least one example by the end of next week,” as he finished, everyone began muttering amongst themselves, and he let them talk for a few minutes, before calling their attention back to him, “Now, onto the lesson, Roman numerals...”

* * *

Jon’s final class was a small group of 9 grade 9s for academic English. Turns out, not a lot of grade 9s came over to high school this year, and even less decided to take academic English. Whatever, it made his job easier, though he felt sorry for the applied teachers who had classes larger than normal. 

With his class only being 9 kids, it was much easier to keep track of the students and their names. Not that he really needed to with the Eyes supplying that information to him, but it was nice either way to have such a small class size. 

Helen came in first. Not the Distortion Helen, a kid who looked nothing like the Helen he knew who happened to share a name. He would have to get used to that. She gave a wave to him as she entered, to which Jon waved back with a smile.

Then in came four students at once, all trying to shove into the room at the same time. The first to make it through the door was Keyshawn, a cheery kid who was hardly upset. In behind Keyshawn was his friend, Jinothon, or simply Jino. They were chatting as the walked in, but they quickly ended their conversation as they sat down. The other two who walked in together were Savant and his best friend Johnathan. It confused him quite a few times when Savant cried for Johnny, but that was just another thing he’d have to get used to. 

Next came in Hadia, a quiet girl who doodled during class very often and didn’t talk to many others.

Followed by Hadia was Nahid, another quiet young man who kind of just sat quietly and rarely spoke, even less so than Hadia. Many people chalked it up to Nahid being shy, but Jon Knew, capital K _Knew_ , that it was because Nahid was self conscious about his accent. English was his second language and he felt out of place with his accent. 

The final three all came in together. Dahlia, Shavanie and Kerry were three good friends who tried to stay together. They had been beyond happy when they found out they’d have this class together.

Jon took in a breath as the three friends sat down, and he stepped up, Walking to the front of the class,

“Now that everyone’s here, I have a booklet to hand out. This isn’t very big, you all should be able to finish it by the end of the period, but if not, you can complete for homework and hand it in tomorrow,” He announced, picking up the stack of booklets from his desk, handing them out to everyone.

* * *

“So, how was work today?” Martin asked as he finished chewing his own dinner. Jon shrugged,

“Some kids weren’t reading during first period silent reading, I helped Thorn and a few other students with translating in period 2, finished half a book by lunchtime and then the last two classes were nothing special either,” Martin nodded,

“Well, if anything happens, You know you’ll have to tell, right?” Jon simply nodded.

* * *

Turns out, more people were interested the supernatural club than Thorn thought. Sarah had shown up, something Thorn hadn’t expected and Quinten was there, which didn’t surprise her.

A grade 10, Draire, had showed up along with a grade 12 by the name of Briar. 

There was also Darius, someone Thorn also recognized, as well as a kid called Omeed, Zack, Celia and someone she’d never seen before, not even in the hallways who was apparently called Jino. He was quiet short, maybe that was why she never noticed him, but Thorn was pretty short herself, so how she missed him, she had no idea.

There was also a Barrett, Fatima, Mikkel, Anna and Madison. Thorn had a feeling not everyone was going to stick around, but that was fine. She already had more people than she was expecting.

She had thirteen people, plus her and Mr. Raja, making it fifteen people in total. Once everyone was settled down, and she was sure that no more people were coming, she stood up and went to the front of the room,

“Uh, Thank you all for showing interest in this new club, I’m surprised to see so many people here, but you’re all welcome!” A few kids clapped and cheered, “So, Uhh...” Thorn paused, “Okay, I’ll be honest, I don’t have a plan,” she admitted. Some people laughed, but most stayed quiet, “any ideas for what we can do?” A few kids rose their hands. She went quiet waiting for someone to say something when she realized she was the one picking who would speak. She pointed to Darius since he was the only one she recognized with their hands up,

“Can we please talk about Mr. Sims? I swear, that man is Psychic or somethin’!” A few other kids perked up at that and murmured in agreement,

“Yeah, I know! It’s wild!!” Jino added, “This is only my fourth day since I’m grade nine, but it’s like he knows everything!”

“Oh, he’s a new teacher! He wasn’t here last year!” Briar butt in, causing all the grade nines in the room to get a look of confusion on their faces, “though it feels like I’ve known him for a while, he feels familiar for some reason,” 

“You too!” Draire spoke up loudly, “i thought I was the only one! He’s not even one of my teachers, but whenever I see him it’s like seeing an old friend or something!” Draire finished,

“Oh, he’s like, Totally done some shit though,” Mr. Raja gave Celia a stern look but didn’t say anything and let them talk, “like, have you seen those scars!”

“Yeah! He’s got a scar line on his neck, like he’s been held at knife point or whatever!” Jino replied, to which Celia nodded aggressively towards,

“And he’s got like... a really serious burn scar on his one hand!” Jino’s face lit up,

“And all those dot scars he’s got!” Everyone cheered in agreement,

“We totally gotta figure out things about him! That’ll be our goal! Can that be our goal?!” Briar turned to look at Thorn as she asked her question, along with everyone else looking at her expectantly. Thorn was quiet for a quick moment before nodding,

“Everyone’s first assignment for After-School Skeptics is to find out one thing about Mr. Sims!” Everyone gave another cheer of agreement, then they were all quiet, “I uh... guess that’s it for this meeting, then?” Thorn turned to Mr. Raja who nodded, “okay, that’s all, we’re uh, dismissed I guess,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly all the students are named after my old classmates cuz I can’t think of enough names...  
> Also, since not everyone may know how to pronounce some of the names:  
> Aaqil is pronounced like Ah-Key-L  
> Jino is pronounced like Gin-O  
> Hadia is pronounced like Hah-Dia  
> Nahid is pronounced like Nah-Heed  
> Fatima is usually pronounced like Fah-Tim-Ah, but the Fatima I knew in school pronounced it as Fah-Teem-Ah, so I pronounce like that...  
> Mikkel is pronounced like Meek-EL


	3. Interrogation

Jon got to school early, as most teachers did. Some kids were standing in the hallways, the track team was running laps already, and of course, the principal and Vice Principals were already in their office with the secretaries. 

As Jon made his way upstairs to the language hallway where his class was, he noticed a student waiting outside the door. Darius. Strange. Darius was ever early, in fact, most days Darius was late,

“Darius? What are you here so early for?” He questioned as he took out his keys and unlocked the door, letting him in,

“I wanted to ask some questions,” Jon nodded and placed his bag down as Darius did the same thing, 

“Go ahead, Then,” Darius took in a breath and then looked at him intensely,

“Are you psychic?” Well, that was not what he was expecting. He had an idea that Darius was going to ask him about himself, but that?

“I’m sorry, Psychic? Of course not, what prompted that question?” Darius shrugged,

“You always seem to know when people aren’t doing their work,”

“Darius, it’s only the fifth day,”

“Which makes that even wilder! You don’t know us, yet! How can you know which of us are doing our work, huh?” Jon sighed,

“Darius, I just...” Darius gave him an excusatory look as he raised an eyebrow, “I’m not Psychic, all right?” Darius continued staring at him for a moment then he shrugged and sat at his desk,

“Whatever you say, Spooky man,” Jon cringed at the word but didn’t say anything else.

* * *

Once class began, Jon did his usual attendance check. As he was skimming everyone in the class, he noticed a raised hand. Strange. He nodded towards whoever had their hand up, a kid called Madison,

“Yes, what is it Madison?”

“How do you do attendance so quickly? And how did you learn our names so quickly?” Oh not this again,

“It’s only been a week, and you have four different classes so you have to learn like, at least 120 students if you have 20 kids per class. There’s no way you’ve learnt all our names and faces already,” Jon went quiet,

“I just have a good memory, is all,” He answered. A few of the students gave him a strange look, Namely Darius and Madison, who also shared a look before looking back up to him, “If you have any suspicions about them, just say them, don’t beat around the bush, Madison,” He added. Madison nodded and stood up, pointing a finger to him,

“You’re psychic, aren’t you?” Jon sighed,

“I’m not psychic, Madison... Now, please sit back down, we have a lesson to get to,” Madison huffed and reluctantly sat back down, crossing her arms.

* * *

Jon’s next class wasn’t any better, he would later learn. Not that a class other three members of ASS would be my better. He was anticipating them to eventually question him, so when Thorn walked up to his desk, he was prepared,

“Yes, what is it?” He looked up from grading a chapter review from the previous class to see Thorn,

“I... Have I met you before? I feel like I’ve seen you, but I can’t place where, and I would recognize someone that looks like you, I couldn’t forget you, with all your scars and whatnot,” Jon sighed. Yes, he’d been expecting it, but he never actually prepared an answer,

“You might’ve seen me while I was out shopping or something. We do live in the same town, afterall,” he quickly spoke, not wanting to hesitate lest it trigger something in Thorn’s memory. He actually didn’t know if it was even possible to make them remember, but he wasn’t keen on experimenting or finding out,

“Okay... I guess...” Thorn slowly nodded and went back to her seat next to Sarah. He hoped those two would be able to figure it out without an apocalypse happening. They seemed happy together the few times he and Martin had seen them together.

* * *

He unfortunately finished his book about halfway into lunchtime, leaving him with nothing to eat and nothing to do. He couldn’t really entertain himself with a phone or a computer, technology kind of failed to work around him, so he just sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Just as he was closing his eyes, though, Draire was in the doorway. Draire? He didn’t teach Draire,

“M-Mr. Sims?” Jon shuffled back up to sit properly in his chair when he heard Draire speak,

“Yes?” He nearly said Draire’s name, but stopped himself, realizing that he shouldn’t even know who he was, “I uh... I don’t recognize you, what’re you here for?” Draire fiddled with the hem of his sweater. The same one he wore while men the apocalypse happened,

“I just... I heard you’re good at English?”

“Well, I’m an English teacher, I sure hope I’d be good at English,”

“C-Could you help me? With English homework? My English teacher, Mrs. Wojtis, is eating lunch and can’t help me,” Jon sat up more straight and nodded,

“Of course, come, sit down,” Draire smiled and took a seat in front of Jon’s desk,

“Draire by the way,” Jon nodded,

“And I suppose you already know I’m Mr. Sims, then?” Draire gave a subtle nod,

“C-Can I ask a few questions?” Jon sighed. He should’ve seen this coming,

“Go ahead,”

“How’s you get all those scars?” Jon took in a breath,

“One. You can get the answer to One scar. Pick one,” Draire looked at him curiously and then pointed to his hand that Jude Perry had shaken, “ah, this uh...” He paused, trying to think of how to explain it, “Touched boiling wax, now, what do you need help with,” he spoke quickly, wanting to move on,and surprisingly, Draire let him, and went on with questions about English. 

* * *

Third period was normal, or at least, as normal as a class of grade nines all scrambling to tell him their examples of Latin in everyday life. Once they were all Quiet, Jon did his quick attendance check, then went around the class, asking each student if they had an example,

“Barry, example?”

“Not yet,”

“Walter, example?”

“No,”

“Danny?”

“No,”

“Sara?”

“Nope!”

“Jack?”

“Yup!”

“Okay, tell me after class,” Jack nodded and he continued down the list. 

After class, he had two students come up to him. Jack and Celia. 

“Jack, show me yours first,” Jack nodded an proceeded to pull out his phone, 

“Gotta get it,” He muttered as Jon watched him pull up youtube, and started typing into the search bar, “Here we go!” Jack’s phone started playing Sudden Violin music followed by harsher instruments and some flutes and then horns that soon joined in. The violins continued their rhythm as Horns and a piano went on. Trumpets came in and more woodwind joined and then a heavy drum came in, followed by a choir,

“estuans interius ira vehementi,” the Choir sang, followed by a cry that sounded like “Sephiroth,”. 

“That’s Latin, right?” Jack asked, as the music continued on. Celia gave Jack a strange look, but otherwise stayed quiet,

“That is Latin, yes,” Jack jumped up in a mini celebration,

“Yeeahhh!” He cheered,

“Can you tell me what it means?” Jack’s face went blank,

“Uh, the lyrics here, reads, uh...” Jack paused, “Estuans... Interius... Ira... Vehementi,“ 

“Pronounced that wrong,” Jack looked up at him weirdly,

“Remember? In Latin, Vs are pronounced like W’s, right, so it’d be pronounced Wehementi, right?” Jack slowly nodded, “Vehementi,” he repeated with the correct pronunciation, “Now, can you tell me what it means?” Jack’s face went blank again,

“Uhh.. well, I can guess that Vehementi means something like angry, right?” Jon nodded, surprised Jack made the connection, “I don’t have any ideas for the rest, but Sephiroth is like, an evil dude and one of his things is like... Flames?? So I’m guessing one of the words might mean fire?” Jon nodded, once again surprised by Jack connecting the dots so well. He didn’t know about this Sephiroth character and he figured it wasn’t important enough to pull from the Eye,

“Very good. estuans interius ira vehementi means Burning inside with violent anger,” Jack’s face lit up and he did another mini celebration,

“Woooo!!! ‘Kay, thanks Mr. Sims, see ya Monday!” And Jack was gone, leaving him and Celia,

“Now, what do you have, Celia?”

“Uhh... I just... had a question? About you?” Jon blinked and let out a breath. He did not expect that,

“Uh, go ahead, I suppose,” 

“What’s that ring you wear? It’s not a wedding ring, that’s on your other hand, so what’s that one?” She asked, pointing to his black ring he wore. Oh, well, that was innocent enough. He was expecting her to accuse him of being a psychic or ask about the scars,

“This Ring, it’s uh... kinda a, uh... signifier? I suppose? To my Sexuality? I’m Asexual, and it’s kinda a thing to wear a black ring on your right middle finger, kinda to, like... As a... thing? I... it sounds stupid when I say it, but it means a lot to me and others. Not everyone does it, but I do,” Celia gave him a weird look,

“How are you asexual?”

“I just don’t experience sexual attraction, that’s it,” Celia looked at him strangely again,

“But like... Asexual is when you make babies without having sex,” Jon had to stop himself from laughing. Instead, he simply chuckled,

“That’s Asexual reproduction, Celia,”

“Oh...” Jon nodded,

“Was that all?” Celia tilted her head and nodded slowly, “alright, well, I’ll see you Monday, Then!” Celia nodded more confidently and smiled, leaving the class room.

* * *

Strangely enough, none of his next class had entered yet. He found it strange that they were taking so long to show up, when he remembered he’d told them to meet him in the library today. He quickly picked up his things and speed walked down to the library were all nine of them were waiting for him, talking amongst themselves and walking aimless around the library, looking at the books,

“Hey, My class!” He spoke up, getting their attention, “Sorry i’m late, it slipped my mind that we had the library today,” All of them kind of just nodded unbothered, “The Librarian, Ms. Herman will be giving you the lesson today. Ms. Herman?” Ms. Herman, who’s full name was Denice, nodded and motioned for the students to sit down in front of a white board,

“That’s right! We’re going over plagiarism and how to properly site your sources!” Denice spoke with a false charm. Jon gave a thumbs up and Denice smiled back, signalling that she had it all under control now. 

* * *

“Okay, so, what have we learnt so far?” Thorn spoke up when she noticed everyone that was going to say had arrived. Turned out, she was right about not everyone staying. The club was a lot smaller now, only being Her, Sarah, Quinten, Draire, Briar, Darius, Madison, Celia and Jino. And Mr. Raja, but he wasn’t actually doing anything, he was just supervising them. Madison was the first to raise her hand,

“He absolutely refuses to admit that he is totally psychic,” Darius nodded,

“Yeah! Both me and Madison asked him if he was psychic and he refused both times!” Madison nodded in agreement,

“He seemed a bit messed up when we asked, though, like he was trying to think of an answer or something! I think he actually is psychic and doesn’t want us to know!” Madison Added, to which Darius also gave a nod in agreement to,

“Okay, what else?” Thorn asked, turning to Draire and Quinten,

“Oh! Uh, y-you know that massive burn scar he’s got on his, uh, on his Hand?” Everyone slowly nodded as Draire spoke quietly, “He told me it was boiling wax,” Everyone stopped and looked at Draire,

“Really?!” Jino piped up for the first time this meeting,

“Boiling Wax?!” Darius repeated, 

“Yeah! He said it was boiling wax! I wanted to ask more about it, but it didn’t seem like a happy subject, which, I mean, makes sense,” Draire shrugged,

“Okay, what else have we learnt?” Celia’s hand shot up,

“He’s Married and Asexual!”

“We already know he’s married, we’ve seen the ring, but Asexual? Thats new, nice,” Thorn smiled, taking out her phone, “I’m gonna make a notes on my phone for everything we learn,” 

“Oh! Oh!” Jino raised his hand, trying to get Thorn’s attention as she wrote down in her phone,

“Yes, Uhh.. Jino, right?” Jino nodded, “Yes, Jino?”

“He’s got bad memory!” 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“He forgot to go to the library for my class which was last period,”

“That would’ve been me and another guy. He was talking with us after class, we were holding him up, Sorry,”

“No, but he told us he forgot, so it wasn’t you holding him up, he actually forgot,” Jino argued,

“I really don’t think that’s enough to mark down Mr. Sims as having bad memory, though,” Celia spoke,

“I’ll write down that he might have a bad memory, how’s that?” Both Jino and Celia looked at each other before looking to Thorn and shrugging, “okay, great! I learnt nothing, except that he might not always be telling the truth,” Everyone in the room gave her a strange look, even Mr. Raja looked at her weirdly, “He’s not really good at lying, alright? I could tell. I asked if I’d seen before cuz he feels familiar to me, and he stuttered and repeated words and he hesitated. Something is definitely up, and he’s bad at lying,” Quinten was the only one to nod this time,

“Has it been considered that he may be touched by a god or that he may be a blessed one?” Quinten spoke up, quietly. Jino was the only one to hear him, and Jino ignored it, too scared to repeat what Quinten had said,

“Okay, so, uh, guess that’s all, then. Anything else we wanna talk about?”

“Have you guys heard about the Super Sargasso Sea?” Everyone shook their heads, “ooohhh!! Let me tell y’all ‘bout it, then!”

* * *

“Martin, I’m home!” 

“Welcome home, Jon! How was your day?” Jon shrugged,

“Decent enough. The kids decided that today would be a good day to interrogate me, apparently. Had...” Jon paused to count how many times he’d been questioned, “Five kids. Five kids came up to me today and asked personal questions,” Martin lightly chuckled,

“Well, can you blame them, Jon? One, you’re covered in scars, and you have even more that are covered by your clothing that they don’t know about, Two, your infinite knowledge has already been made apparent as you told me, and-“

“It’s not infinite knowledge, Martin, you know that,”

“Yeah, but it’s easier to say that,” Jon rolled his eyes and met Martin continue, “Three, you’re just... an overall spooky guy,”

“God, Martin, how many times must I say; I hate the word Spooky,” Martin laughed and leaned down to hug Jon,

“Yeah? Is my spooky little man angry?”

“Oh shut up, You,”

* * *

About two months passed, and the After School Skeptics, now nicknamed ASS by Draire, hadn’t gathered much new information. In about two months, all they’d come up with was that Mr. Sims was Married, Asexual, bad a lying, possibly had a bad memory, got a burn scar by touching boiling wax, used to be a librarian, didn’t seem to use any technology, never ate and knew practically everything. It was frustrating everyone. Even Mr. Raja had gotten interested, and even contributed to the knowledge that Mr. Sims was married to a man by the name of Martin. 

He was impossible to break. As bad of a liar as he was, no one could make him tell the truth. So, Thorn came up with an idea. Ask question that are the opposite of what they want so he lies and accidentally tells the truth. Reverse psychology. 

That, evidently, didn’t work either. Jino had been the one to try it first. Mr. Sims had caught on instantly and told Jino to stop trying. 

* * *

It was during second period, when Thorn, Sarah and Quinten were all in Latin together when the speaker in the room dinged,

“Mr. Sims?” The speaker called. Mr. Sims quickly raised his head,

“Yes? What is it?”

“I believe your husband is here? He says you forgot your lunch and he brought it for you. If you’re not busy-“

“I’ll come down now, thank you,”

“Great,” and the speaker dinged off. Mr. Sims got up and stepped out of the class,

“Behave, you all,” He eyed them all down, and something in Thorn made he want to obey that order. She would’ve done it anyway, she didn’t usually disobey teachers, but when Mr. Sims told her and the rest of the class to behave, she felt... strangely compelled to follow to order. And it seemed everyone else did, too, cuz no one was speaking even a single word.

  
  


Jon cursed himself. He’d accidentally used his compulsion on the students, and made them stay quiet and behave. Hopefully none of them realized, most people unaware of the Eye were oblivious to it, but he worried about Thorn, Quinten and Sarah. He took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down as he walked downstairs to the office, where he saw Martin through the glass. Martin waved when he noticed him and Jon waved back, and sped up his walking to get to the office quicker,

“Hello!” Martin smiled when he opened the door and entered, “you left your book at home, I figured you’d want it,” Jon nodded as he took the book, smiling up to Martin, 

“Y-Yes, thank you. I hadn’t noticed, but I’m glad you did,” Martin smiled back,

“Of course,”

“Well, I have to get back to my class, thank you, I’ll see you at three,” Martin gave another smile and waved as Jon left, then he too left.

The Watcher. That was who Mr. Sims served. The Watcher had been the one to make him a blessed one. There was no doubt in Quinten’s mind now that Mr. Sims knew about him and who he actually was. His real name, his past actions, his dedication to the lightless flame, surely he knew. He’d used Compulsion on the whole class. Quinten almost didn’t notice, he just did as he was told. He rarely acted out, anyway, it really didn’t change how he was going to act, but he did notice the slight change. 


	4. Some things are learnt

“I must give an announcement.” Quinten stated, making sure to make himself loud. The rest of the club all turned to him in the middle of their discussion on the Bermuda Triangle, everyone looking at him curiously,

“Oh no,” he heard both Jino and Draire mutter,

“That’s only like, the third time I’ve heard him speak,” he heard Briar mutter to Celia, who nodded. Quinten took in a breath and let it out. He kept one hand in his pocket, holding onto his knife. Breathe in, breathe out. He knew what he was going to say. He just... had to put it into... Their words. The words they used. He took another breath in and out and noticed everyone was now quiet,

“Prepare yourselves, for you will be learning much,” he cursed himself for not speaking in their way. Enough with the way of the flame! He scolded himself. Speak in a way they’d understand, “To begin. There are fourteen gods that rule out world. The Flame, The Watcher, The Fog and The Dark are just a few examples. Some people serve these gods. I am one of them, and I serve the Flame. 

Some people become blessed ones by earning the affection of a god. I was supposed to be a blessed one, but it didn’t end up working. I, however, did make it out with the ability to recognize blessed ones...” He paused, letting out a breath as everyone continued to stare at him, “Mr. Sims... He is a blessed one. The Watcher is what has blessed him, be he’s also been touched by many other gods, meaning he’s had encounters with blessed ones who served another god or he had a direct contact,” Quinten finished, looking to everyone. They were all staring at each other in disbelief, “You may not believe m-“

“No, I... You said to be touched by one of these gods is to have an encounter, right?” Briar piped up. Quinten nodded, “I think I’ve met a blessed one, then!” Quinten raised an eyebrow at that,

“Do tell. I wish to hear your recount,” Briar nodded,

“Basically, I bought a creepy book at a yard sale and while reading it, a weird looking, creepy guy came up to me and took it from me,” Quinten slowly nodded, 

“A Blessed book,” at the mention of the blessed books, Thorn’s hand shot up,

“I’ve read one of these books too!” She went quiet, “didn’t seem very blessed, though. It was about a serial killer and how he mutilated his victims...” Thorn added on quietly. Quinten perked up,

“The Flesh! The book you read seems to be one by the Flesh,” Quinten spoke up,

“What about me?” Briar asked. Quinten shrugged,

“I cannot know without an explanation. I am not blessed by the Watcher,” 

“Oh! Basically, it was a book describing the deaths of a bunch of people in excruciating detail!” She said with perhaps too much cheer,

“The After,” Quinten answered. Briar slowly nodded,

“What-What about, uh... What about someone who replaced a family member without anyone noticing?” Draire spoke up. Quinten gave him a weird look, “S-Sorry, that... That’s a bit specific isn’t it? Probably isn’t any of the gods, I’m p-probably delusional,” Draire added on. Quinten shook his head,

“That indeed does seem to be the work of a god, but which, I cannot say... I am not too acquainted with the others that are not the Flame,” Draire nodded nervously,

“So, like, what’s with the way you speak?” Madison spoke up. Quinten nodded,

“It is how I was taught, simply a habit and result of my raising,” Madison nodded,

“But you can speak normally?”

“I learned to speak the way I do, it is difficult for myself to articulate words the same way you do,” Quinten answered. Madison simply Shrugged, 

“Whatever... Actually! Can you tell me which I encountered?” Quinten gave a nod, “Okay, To make it simple, I watched someone die and then come back,”

“Once again, the After,” Madison slowly nodded then turned to Briar,

“So I guess we share an experience, then!” Briar nodded and they shook hands awkwardly,

“We’re the After-People!”

“The After-People!” Madison repeated cheerfully. Sarah and Thorn laughed quietly,

“Have we all had an experience? Jino?Darius?” Thorn asked, turning to the two others, “Darius, you haven’t spoken yet about this, do you have anything?” Darius was quiet then slowly nodded,

“I... Maybe?” Everyone turned to look at Quinten, 

“Explain to Quinten, he might know,” Darius sighed and turned to Quinten, 

“I was in a house fire a few years- Quinten?” Darius paused, his concern growing as Quinten began to smile, 

“Sorry, you just... It would seem that you had an encounter with my god, the Flame,” He smiled, “I do not know how you have slipped my mind, but it is nice,” Darius looked at Quinten with more concern,

“N-Nice?! I nearly died in that fire! Other people died in that fire!” Quinten continued smiling,

“As is the Flame,” he simply spoke with his eerie smile still on his face,

“O-Okay, L-Let’s get away from that,” Jino spoke up, breaking Quinten from his smile, “My encounter was aliens, is that a god or is that just... Aliens?” Quinten looked at Jino oddly and slowly shook his head,

“I am not too well educated on the gods that are not the Flame, so I can not say, but it... Aliens are unique,” Jino slowly nodded, “Celia? Sarah?” Quinten turned to the final two who had yet to speak, “would you like to speak?” Sarah shook her head and Celia just shrugged,

“I... I really haven’t had anything, I just... Like the supernatural? Y’know? It interests me?” She shrunk under the gaze of everyone looking at her curiously, “W-What about you Sarah?”

“I-I already said t-that I’d r-rather n-not talk about... about... What h-happened...” She went quiet and Celia closed her eyes and sat down,

“That’s... Fair, I guess...”

* * *

Jon was nervous. Really nervous. There had been a bit of a delay for the student-teachers, a severe accident on campus set them back a few weeks, then an issue arose in the system cataloguing the students that would come over, setting the date back even more. After about two months of set back, Lusmon was finally going to join him in class. She didn’t know anything about Latin, so why she was placed with him, Jon didn’t know. She was training to be an English teacher, perhaps that was why, but... It still confused him. Either way, He was nervous. The student-teachers were supposed to be arriving at the school anytime soon and he would be seeing Lusmon for the first time since the apocalypse. He took in a breath, and looked to the clock. Not like he needed, he already knew the time thanks to the Eye, but seeing it helped reassure him. Anytime soon, and Lusmon will- He felt the presence of someone touched by the Corruption nearby. Lusmon. He straightened himself out more, and made sure he was ready,

“Uh, Mr. Sims, right? I’m at the right class?” Lusmon,

“Lusmon?” He asked without thinking. She looked at him weirdly a short moment then nodded,

“Guess this is the right class, then!” She smiled. Jon nodded and stood up, gesturing to a desk near the back,

“Your desk is just there. Students should begin arriving sometime soon, but while we wait for class to begin, I’ll go over what we’ve gone through so far,” Lusmon gave a nod as she settled herself into her desk, “since you’d normally be here from almost the beginning, there’s a bit to catch up on, but-“ He cut himself off when he spotted something black out of the corner of his eye, slowly wriggling,

“Mr. Sims?” 

“Sorry, Hold on...” He muttered as he turned to look at the black thing, only to realize... It was... Mould? Worms? Whatever it was, it was a manifestation of the Corruption, likely the mould that invaded Lusmon’s house some years ago,

“Is... Is that that weird mould? Did it follow me? Can mould even do that?”

“It’s... It’s not Mould,” Jon muttered, quietly,

“N-Not mould?” He just barely heard Lusmon question as he got closer to the... well, the Mould,

“It... It is Mould, but it’s not normal mould. It’s not... no, It... I’ll explain later, C-Can you...” He let out a breath and turned to Lusmon, worry on his face, “Is there anybody nearby? Can you please check?” Lusmon slowly nodded her head and walked into the hallway,

“I... I don’t see anybody...” Jon took in a breath and looked to Lusmon,

“Good, now... Please... Do not panic. Please do not... scream, make noise, alert anybody, please don’t tell anyone about this, not even your parents or... Not even Perry-“

“How do you know about Perry?!” Jon sighed,

“I’ll explain later, just... please, don’t... You’re scared, I can taste it in the air, please don’t be,” 

“T-Taste it?! What?! Wh-“

“Lusmon, Please... Just... stay quiet, please, I’m begging you,” Lusmon looked at him and backed up but otherwise stayed quiet, “Thank you... now...” He took in a deep breath and let it out. Then, he opened his eyes. All of them. He heard Lusmon gasp followed by her clasping her hands over her mouth to stop herself. He was admittedly nervous. He hadn’t smote anyone after the apocalypse and even then he’d only ever smote... Human-adjacent monsters. He wasn’t sure if this was going to work, but he hoped it did. And so, with another deep breath in and out, he looked down at the mould and recited his speech, “ **Ceaseless Watcher, T-Turn you gaze upon this Mould, upon this manifestation. Let it be known and let it be seen. I See It,** ” In a small burst of black dust, The Mould was gone, and the taste of both the Corruption and Lusmon’s fear lingered. He sat back down and slumped into his seat, glad that it worked, 

“M-Mr. Sims...” Lusmon barely got out, before fear began to fill the room. Fear of him,

“I... I am so sorry, Lusmon, I...” 

“Y-Your... Eyes... there’s... Eyes...” She managed to utter, before going silent again. _Shit._ He forgotten to close his eyes. He quickly blinked the extra eyes away then slowly approached Lusmon, 

“Lusmon, it’s okay, I... The Mould’s gone and I won’t hurt you, alright? I promise you I won’t hurt you, please,” Lusmon looked up, tears starting to form from behind her sunglasses that she seemed so attached to. She scooted back a bit when Jon tried to get closer, and when he noticed that, he stopped trying to approach, not wanting to make her afraid anymore. The taste of fear was still strong, and he was... well, he hated that he enjoyed it, but he hadn’t had it like this in a while, it was... horrible, really, but it tasted good, and he liked it. But he really didn’t, he hated it. He sighed,

“Listen, Lusmon, I... I’m sorry you had to see that, but if I hadn’t killed that Mould, it would’ve followed you back to your current home and you and your family would likely succumb to it unlike last time when you were able to get away,” 

“How do you know about that?! I haven’t told you!” Jon dipped his head,

“I... It’s hard to explain, something I can quite explain right now. I don’t want the students to come in and see me explaining something beyond them to you, so...” He paused, “Please, I know it’s hard, but... try to pretend like nothing happened, I’m sorry I... I acted rashly, I should’ve told you to look away or something, but... I... I’m sorry, And I know that’s not good enough, but... It’s the best I can give at the moment. After school, I’ll explain, but please know that I mean you no harm. I killed that because I was protecting you... for now... Class...” Lusmon nodded hesitantly, “So...”

* * *

When Quinten entered Latin class, he was instantly hit by a strong sense of the Filth and the Watcher. Something happened. He could feel it. He then noticed another... teacher? Student? She looked to young to be a teacher but to old to be a new student. He kept his eyes on her as he sat down then waited for class to begin. 

It took longer than normal for class to begin. The new lady, Lusmon Kart, or Ms. Kart as they were meant to call her, was a student-teacher from the nearby university. She kept hiding her face, and wiping her eyes, though Quinten wasn’t sure anyone could even catch her eye colour with the shades she wore. Why she was allowed the shades was a mystery to Quinten, but it really didn’t bother him. He was just curious as to why Lusmon kept trying to hide her face and wasn’t speaking. She wasn’t a blessed one, the sense of the Filth wasn’t that Pure enough on her, but it did taint her, and quite strongly, too. Mr. Sims kept stuttering over his words, and strangely enough, he was going on for minutes without blinking, and it seemed he was almost surprised when he did blink, which was followed by him rapidly blinking, almost like he was trying to make up for the ‘missed blinks’. Probably something to do with him being blessed by the Watcher, but he’d never seen Mr. Sims act like that before. Curious...

* * *

“Okay, Explain, Eyeball man,” Lusmon spoke up loudly the moment the day ended and the student were gone. Jon took in a breath, choosing to ignore the... nickname(?) Lusmon gave him,

“Of course...” He let out the breath and looked to Lusmon,

“You know I can never un-see that?” Jon nodded,

“It was rash to do that in front of you, but... I was worried,”

“Okay, so you did it to protect me, you already said that...” Lusmon paused to wipe her eyes, “So, uh... L-Let’s start at the Mould. What was that? Was it going to kill me, or what? And why?” 

“That Mould was a manifestation of the Dread Power known as the Corruption. It’s goal wasn’t to kill to you, though it would have no trouble doing such. It’s goal is... simply to make you scared. It feeds on your fear,” He answered simply. Lusmon slowly nodded,

“O-Okay, sure, whatever. And-And what did you do and how?”

“I... I unfortunately serve one of these Dread Powers, called the Eye. This comes with side effects, such as... The Eyes you saw and spme... Powers... one of these powers allows me to Smite things, as it were,” He explained,

“R-Right... So you’re what? Part human? Magical human? Human with powers? What are you? Does it make you inhuman?” Jon let out a breath. He’s been dreading this question,

“It... I... I have a bad habit of calling myself a monster, but Martin has always argued against it. He thinks I’m still Human, at least as human as a monster like me can get,” 

“M-Martin?”

“My husband,” Lusmon nodded,

“You don’t strike me as a married man,” Jon chuckled,

“And you’ve already found yourself a wife at what? 27?” 

“Okay, how do you know about Perry? I nearly forgot about that. How do you know?”

“It’s... one of the things that comes with serving the Eye. It’s whole thing is... Knowing things. It lets me just... Know things,” He paused, “Martin’s described it as a personal Google,” 

“Okay, but Perry isn’t on social media and I don’t use mine,”

“I don’t get my info from the internet. In fact, technology tends to glitch around me. Doesn’t really mix well, I guess, and I suppose the Eye overrides technology,” 

“I’m going to pretend I understand,” Jon slowly nodded,

“I’m really sorry though, I really am. I know it’s not much, but... I just...” Jon went quiet, “Know I support you and I’ll never try to hurt you or anyone else... Well, unless they’re and other dread power or dread power user threatening innocent people like yourself, in which case, I will have to smite them, I cannot allow that to happen,” Lusmon dipped her head in understanding then stood up, picking up her bag,

“W-Well... I’m sure to have nightmares about that for the next few years, thanks for that,” Jon couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not and before he could respond, Lusmon was out the door and gone.

* * *

“I must give yet another announcement,” Quinten once again spoke up amongst the talking of everyone else in room 217, “I was able to sense the presence of the Filth in second period today. I suspect Mr. Sims was invoked in a way,”

“And the Filth is another god?” Darius asked. Quinten nodded,

“That is correct,” Everyone looked to each other and exchanged glances,

“So are we what? Being invaded or something?” Quinten shook his head,

“I have reason to believe Mr. Sims killed it. I would also wish to bring to light his lack of eye movement during class and his general unfocus,” Quinten added on. Thorn nodded,

“Yeah, I noticed that, too! He wouldn’t blink for like, two or three minutes, then he’d blink and seem surprised by it,” 

“I noticed it too,” Sarah spoke quietly. 

“Should we go over what we know now? From the list,” everyone gave a nod, prompting Thorn to pull out her phone, “Okay, so... He’s married to a man called Martin, Asexual, bad a lying, got a burn scar by touching boiling wax, used to be a librarian, doesn’t ever use any technology, never eats, knows pretty much everything, reads a lot, he was once stabbed by the youtuber Melanie King, he is apparently blessed by the Watcher and also he forgets to blink, I guess?” Everyone gave their own way of approval, some nodding, some giving thumbs up and some smiling, “Alright, W-“

“Have we considered that Mr. Sims isn’t actually a blessed one and that he’s just an Alien?” Jino interrupted, causing a deafening silence to take over the room as everyone stared at him, “Y-Y’know, cuz like... he reads... a lot... A-And he’s like...Know what, nevermind, no, I... I trust Quinten’s judgment, I’m sorry, t-that’s stupid,” 

“Hey, can I explain to y’all about some haunted boats?!”

“Oooh, Haunted boats!” Celia cheered, “Let’s hear it, Briar!” Briar nodded and started to go on about various Haunted boats. Jino was glad they all decided to move on from what he suggested.

* * *

It’d been a few weeks, about a month, since Lusmon first joined him, and Parent-teacher interviews were coming up soon. In just a few days, he’d be sitting in the Cafeteria at a desk as parents lined up to hear about their child. Jon was nervous, to say the least. He almost chuckled at that. He seemed to be nervous a lot, recently. He supposed it sort of came with the job. 

He and Lusmon had since gotten on better terms, and she, for the most part, didn’t really talk about what happened on that first day they met. Jon never mentioned the fact he knew her before, he didn’t think he ever could. 

He’d also, since then, come to know that the knew club dedicated to the supernatural, was more or less actually a club dedicated to trying to figure him out. The knowledge didn’t come to him voluntarily, he’d overheard Jino talking with his friend, Keyshawn during class once, and he was talking about the club. Before he knew it, he Knew it all. Everything about the club. He’d cursed himself for just letting that happen, but it was harmless. The kids were having fun and they weren’t hurting anyone. 

He took in a breath, and prepared his papers for the next day. 

* * *

When the next day did come, he was glad to have prepared himself the day prior, as he woke up late. He quickly grabbed his things and gave Martin a goodbye kiss and he was out the door in a rush. Hopefully the parents wouldn’t be too angry with him. He was tempted to look and see if he had anyone waiting for him, but he refrained. 

When he did make it, he found only a two parents waiting for him. He quickly gestured the parent he knew arrived first, Carol Gauch, Mother to a student in his Latin 1 class, Jack Gauch. 

He spent about five minutes telling Carol about how his son was doing in Latin then when she left, pleased with him and her son, he motioned for the next parent, Jamal Awesome, Father to Jino Awesome. He found their last name a bit humorous, and it seemed Jamal found it funny too, as he joked about it as he introduced himself. 

The rest of the interviews went easy. It was easier than he thought it would be. Sometimes parents came with his student, sometimes they came with their spouse, sometimes they came with other children, sometimes they came with a combination of a spouse and other child or such. It wasn’t as bad as he was expecting. Some parents were disappointed in their children, he could tell without having to actually Know, and part of him wanted to defend the children, but he had to be honest with his marking and how he graded them. 

The last parent he had come to him was Quinten’s... Foster mother, Annalise Feeney and she seemed even more nervous than he was. Quinten was with her, though he didn’t seem to enthusiastic about it. He did notice while he was talking with Annalise that Quinten kept giving him strange, almost excusatory looks. He ignored them for the most part, but he couldn’t shake the kid’s gaze, 

“You know,” Quinten interrupted his conversation with Annalise,

“I’m sorry?” Jon asked in the same moment Annalise told Quinten to,

“be quiet,” Quinten shook his head at Annalise’s order, 

“He knows about me,” 

“Quinten! Shush!” Annalise scolded. Jon simply was frozen. He was not expecting a confrontation,

“He know you aren’t my actual mother. He knows who I am. He knows what I did. He knows. He knows everything,” Quinten spoke flatly, 

“Quinten! I am tryi-“

“He knows...” Quinten stared right into his eyes with his own, weird, Yellow pair, “do not deny it, Jonathan Sims,” Quinten added, holding his stare,

“Quinten! If you don’t cut this out, when we get hom-“

“Do not listen to Annalise. Admit it. You cannot run. You know it,” Annalise got a stern look on her face at the mention of her name.Jon stayed frozen, unable to think of what to do. If he reacted, that would be clear evidence that he was a so called blessed one. Though, Perhaps if he agreed he could help Quinten properly understand about what he called Gods and blessed ones. But... that’d be giving himself away... He struggled with it, and he hadn’t realized it, but he’d close his eyes while thinking, and when he opened them, Quinten and Annalise were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not good with coming up with last names.   
> Also, fun fact, I actually knew a kid in elementary school who’s middle name was Awesome, and together, his initials spelt out JAR...   
> JAR, if you’re reading this... What the fuck??? Really? You??? Did not strike me as the kind guy to listen to tma, let alone fanfics...


	5. Confrontation and Confessions

That next day, Quinten didn’t come to school. He was completely absent, and Jon just... couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps it was the confrontation that Quinten attempted or maybe it was Annalise keeping him home. Jon didn’t want to pry by Knowing, so he kept himself oblivious, which was easy enough. Lusmon was, as always, the first to enter the room after him, and he gave a quiet greeting as she entered. She nodded back and took her seat, then instantly slumped down, letting out a big sigh,

“Mr. Sims?” Jon raised his head,

“Yes?”

“Y-Y’know, like, how you, like... you’re like... uh... I’m sorry, I cannot speak today, it’s... ugh...” Lusmon breathed out, “When-When did... When did you and uh, Martin get, like, Married? Like, how long have you two been together, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“Oh, well...” Jon paused, trying to think of what to say, “I’ve known him for a few years now, and we only started dating maybe two years ago? We got married last year, though,” Lusmon’s eyes widened,

“You guys went quick. I’ve been dating Perry for about five or six years and she only just proposed to me in August of this year,” Jon nodded,

“Y-Yeah, but, well... Yeah...” Lusmon chuckled and sat up a bit more in her seat,

“Does he have scars like yours?” 

“I- What? T-That came out of nowhere,” Jon commented quickly, taken aback by Lusmon’s sudden change in questions. Lusmon shrugged in response and slouched a bit further down again,

“I mean... Everyone’s seen your scars,but, like, does Martin also have scars?” Jon sighed,

“He does have a few, though not nearly as much as me. These scars are... more or less workplace accidents, and we were at the same workplace,”

“Wasn’t your last job a librarian? What kind of Librarian gets... all that happening to them? Did a kid get frustrated you were telling them to shut up so they stabbed you with a pencil like, Fifty times all over you?” Jon shook his hand and placed his head in his hands, tired,

“The circular scars are worms that tried to bury into my skin...” Both eh and Lusmon went quiet, “Now, why don’t you tell me about Perry? How’s she doing with quitting smoking?” Lusmon quickly shuffled back up to sit properly in her seat and she began talking about Perry, going on and on about her Fiancée.

* * *

“-So, like, the totally most wild part of this case is that the he fog? People that were there swore they were surrounded in fog, but in security footage, there was none! And then There’s the whole thing wi-“ Madison was cut off from her rant at the sound of the door opening, to see Ms. Kart. Everyone stared at her curiously, even Mr. Raja, who’d become pretty desensitized to the weirdness of the club members raised an eyebrow at her sudden entrance,

“I don’t know how I’ve only just now heard of this club, but you have to let me,” She explained before anyone could question. Thorn stepped up in front and stared at her,

“Well, come on in, we were just discussing the Lukas family. Madison recently discovered them while researching weird missing persons cases,” Lusmon gave a nod and took a seat next to Darius, who eyed her down weirdly, 

“Right, so, as I was saying about the Fog. People say there was fog, but on camera, there was none. And then there’s also the Lukas family’s long history with this organization or company or something called the Magnus Institute. Apparently they were dedicated to recording first-hand accounts about the supernaturaland like, cataloguing them and shit,” Mr. Raja sighed as Madison swore but let her continue on. Everyone was looking intently at Madison, interested to learn more, “Apparently ever since like... I dunno, I can’t remember the exact date, but like... 1880? Or 1818? I can’t remember, but the Institute was founded in the 1800s by a guy called Jonah Magnus and he received backing from the current head of the Lukas family at the time, who was uh... Mordechai Lukas, I think?” Madison paused, then nodded her head, “Yeah, Mordechai. Anyways, the two were supposedly really close friends, or so say the historians,” Madison winked and everyone but Darius and Mr. Raja laughed, “apparently the Lukas family continues to fund- no, they were funding the Institute until a few years ago, it kinda just... Stopped existing??” If anyone wasn’t already paying attention, Madison had successfully grabbed their attention now, “Like, the building where the Institute supposedly was, is now just a normal-ass office building for like... I dunno...” She shrugged, “But people have memories of the Institute being there instead of the office building but when looking at city records or whatever, there’s no records of the Institute ever being there. There’s mentions of the Institute existing in history, but it’s never mentioned where the building was,” She finished, leaning back on her chair, proud she was able to get everyone so invested. Everyone was silent for a few minutes before Lusmon cleared her throat and sat up more straight,

“Can I recount a thing that happened with me and Mr. Sims?” Almost instantly everyone’s eyes were on her,

“Yeah!! Go go go go!!” Draire chanted, 

“What Dre said!” Briar cheered. Lusmon let out a small chuckled then nodded. Everyone went quiet,

“Basically, he has more than two eyes and it’s horrifying, and that’s all, I don’t want to talk more into detail,” Lusmon spoke quietly. They all exchanged glances then turned back to Lusmon, 

“He is one that is blessed by the watcher,” Quinten spoke up, breaking the silence,

“T-The what?”

“There are fourteen gods that rule our world...” Quinten began, only for him to be interrupted by the door suddenly opening to reveal Mr. Sims standing in the doorway, looking tired and frustrated,

“They... Are not Gods, Quinten...” Mr. Sims rasped, his voice uncharacteristically scratchy. They all turned their gaze to Quinten who was simply grinning eerily, 

“So you do admit to your status as a blessed one,” It wasn’t a question. Mr. Sims sighed then reluctantly nodded his head, as he took a seat in the nearest chair,

“The Dread Powers are not Gods, Quinten,” Mr. Sims rephrased. Everyone’s gazes kept switching between the two, curious, nervous and scared,

“But they are,” Quinten smiled, pushing up his glasses, “You serve one, you you unable to deny such existence,” Mr. Sims gave a reluctant nod yet again, 

“Let it be known that I... Serve...” Mr. Sims seemed to cringe at the word Serve, “The Eye... I literally know everything, Quinten. I Know who you are, what you’ve done, what you believe, what you’ve taught to these innocent kids,” Lusmon opened her mouth to comment, but decided to speak, “I know it all. I Know that the dread powers are not Gods. I am Not blessed by the Eye, and you will never be blessed by the Desolation,” Quinten scoffed,

“Perhaps it may be true what you know, but my perception is not subject to change,” Quinten commented,

“Are there gods or not?!” Darius cried, quickly pushing his chair from out behind him as she quickly stood up, “I spent the past however long believing what Quinten told us, and you’re just gonna come in here and say it’s wrong?!” Mr. Sims sighed,

“I... Allow me to explain... Please...” 

and so... He did. Jon explained the history of the Institute, which they seemed to actually know already, then he went on to briefly explain how he became the Archivist. Then... the fears. Quinten kept piping in and trying to add his own knowledge but Jon shot it down every time. It took him some time to get through the fears with Quinten trying to change the narrative every few seconds, but he got through it. By the time he was explaining how he and Martin averted the apocalypse, he decided to leave out how he’d known Thorn, Sarah, Briar, Quinten, Lusmon and Draire previously. They didn’t need to know about that, and he was worried that telling them that would spark a memory. So, he explained. It didn’t take him as long as he thought it would. Only about two hours - two hours and 27 minutes, the Eye gave him- and he was really hoping he hadn’t ruined his relationship with any of the students or Shavoi, who the students knew as Mr. Raja, who had, surprisingly, sat through the whole thing. Maybe he could be able to befriend him later on.

* * *

That next day, when Darius and Madison walked into class, they were happy and content. They waved to him with big smiles and the often asked questions, unafraid. When Latin came around in period two, Thorn, Sarah and Quinten were all much more cheerful then usual. Thorn was actually doing a pretty decent job with expressing her emotions, Sarah was actually speaking up for herself and was talking with Thorn, unafraid. Quinten remained mostly unchanged, but he seemed more comfortable with using normal words. He was speaking more often and actually attempting to befriend his neighbour. The next class, Celia was there. She was excitedly conversing with her friends, and when Jon had told them to be quiet for independent work, they complied happily. He didn’t use compulsion on them to make them obey him, so they were simply happy to follow his order. The final class had Jino in it, yet another student who he’d told his story to. Jino was animatedly talking with his friend, Keyshawn when they walked in, and when the two might’ve tried to continue speaking until Jo man had to tell them to sush, they actually ended their conversation and took their seats in silence.

Shavoi had approached him after school, too. He was curious to meet Martin, and was wondering if maybe they could go on a double date of sorts. Shavoi would bring his wife, Alisha, and Jon would bring Martin.

Everything seemed to be going quite well. Surprisingly, so. It was... Pleasant.

* * *

The last day of school. All the students were excited, the teachers relieved. Jon was admittedly nervous. During the last few months of school, after he’d told what he now dubbed as New ASS, he’d become quite acquainted with them. The kids often came to him for homework help, and he was always glad to help. They joked around, They learnt, They talked. It was nice. 

The last day of school, Lusmon was late, she burst through the door in the middle of a student setting up a projector and a computer to play a movie for the last day,

“I’m so sorry I’m Like, so late!!”

“Hello, Ms. Kart!” Various members of the class called cheerfully, 

“Yes Yes, hello you all, I’m so very sorry I’m like, really late” She twisted around her bag that was slung lazily over her shoulders and made her way to her own desk as the student finished setting up the movie. 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Jon refused to pry into what made Lusmon late since she was never late, but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship after so long of trying to make amends and building their friendship. He would later learn that he didn’t need to pry.

* * *

“Alright, last meeting of the year!” Thorn stepped to the front of the class as everyone clapped, “Briar, you will be missed, but I hope the rest of your life goes good!” They all gave their nods of acknowledgment, “We may be welcoming in new members next year, so there’s that to look forward to!” Briar gave an enthusiastic Whoop then, Lusmon stood up,

“I have a special announcement!” They all turned their attention to Lusmon as she reaches into her bag and pulled out a bunch of small envelopes. Then, she took in a deep breath and whispered something to herself, “You’re all invited to my wedding! The arrangements have been made, details on the invitation!” A loud roar of cheers took over the room, mainly dominated by Darius, Draire and Briar. Mr. Sims and Mr. Raja clapped from their spots in the room as they smiled, exchanging glances, “I’d love it if you all showed up, that’s it! I like, gotta get going now, bye!” And Lusmon was gone.

* * *

The wedding came much quicker than Jon anticipated. It felt like just a few days passed since the last day of school when he received the invitation when it’s been almost three months,

“Just so you know, that suit looks amazing on you, Jon,” Martin’s soft voice broke him from his thoughts,

“And you look wonderful in your suit, Martin,” Martin gave him a soft smile then took his hand and looked him in the eye, 

“Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,”  


* * *

Thorn was nervous to say the least. She’s never been to a wedding before, she didn’t know how long it was going to be or what was going to happen. But, it was Ms. Kart- Lusmon, it was Lusmon, her friend, and she felt rude if she didn’t show up. She shuffled nervously in her car seat as her Dad drove her to the wedding venue,

“You excited, Thorn Bush?” Thorn rolled her eyes at the nickname,

“I guess,” 

* * *

Sarah felt... overwhelmed. There were already so many people at the venue and she was almost an hour early. Luckily, Thorn would be arriving soon, which meant she could at least have the comfort of one person she recognized and knew. She stayed sitting in her seat, scrolling through her home until she got the message from Thorn, telling her they were there. She couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face, and when she went out to meet Thorn, she really couldn’t help it. Thorn was in a gorgeous dark pink suit. She initially thought it was black, but closer inspection showed that the suit was indeed pink. She had on a dark Green tie, not even proper tied, just hung over her shoulders as she walked over to Sarah who was in her own frilly, Black dress,

“Y-You look... Nice,” Sarah was able to muster, and before she knew it, she could feel the heat of a blush growing on her face,

“You... You too...” Thorn replied, her own face going as light shade of red.

* * *

Suits felt Nice, Draire learned. He liked the way they felt on his body, they made him feel more... Him. He almost didn’t want to take it off, if it weren’t for the unfortunate fact that suits were sort of uncomfortable. He was surprised his parents had let him buy a new, White suit just for the occasion since he didn’t already have a suit, but he really wasn’t complaining. What he was complaining about, though, was how long it was taking Quinten and his mom to show up to pick him up. Neither of his parents were able to drive him so he’d arranged for Quinten’s mom to drive them both. 

Draire didn’t know how long he was waiting, but eventually, he heard the doorbell go off, and he was quickly downstairs, and opening the door,

“I’m all ready to gooooo-“ He wasn’t expecting Quinten to be at the door,

“Hello, Dre,” Driare’s eyes widened. Briar was the only other people to call him Dre, but he liked the way Quinten spoke the simple nickname, so he let it slide, “You are ready, yes?” Draire nodded as he took in Quinten’s outfit. A dark gray suit with a pink tie and a small, Yellow, Blue and Pink button pinked to his suit’s lapel. The Pansexual flag, Draire recognized, 

“You’re Pansexual?” Quinten nodded,

“That is... Yes, I am,” 

“Oh...” Quinten gave an awkward nod then motioned for he car, where his mom waved to him. Draire nodded silently and stepped out, letting Quinten guide him to the car.

* * *

“So, you excited to see the Bride?” Briar patted Lusmon of the shoulders as she finished helping Lusmon get in her dark purple suit,

“It’s still about an hour or two until I get to see Perry, Briar,” Briar rolled her eyes,

“I know, but I’m your maid of honour! It’s my job to ask ya questions!” Lusmon chuckled,

“It’s... Yes, I’m very excited to see Perry and I’m very excited to finally be able to say we’re wives,” she smiled fondly. Briar nodded her head and sat back in her chair, annoyed by the stiffness of her own, Dark Blue suit, and the little movement options it gave her,

“Are you ready?” 

“What?”

“You. Are you ready, Briar?” She... hadn’t really thought of that. She wasn’t sure. She thought she was, but the more she thought about it, but less she though she was,

“I... I don’t know...” Lusmon sighed,

“Wanna like, go over what’s gonna happen, again?” Briar nodded hesitantly, “no need to be ashamed. So, first...”

* * *

“Hey!! Thorn!! Sarah!!” Thorn whipped her head around to see Draire running towards them, waving his hands as Quinten watched and smiled as he walked behind, 

“Hey, you guys! D’you know when Jino and Darius and Mads and Celia are gonna come?” Thorn questioned. Draire shook his head,

“Celia couldn’t make it, Darius said he didn’t wanna come cuz weddings were boring, and Jino never told me if he was coming or not,”

“W-What about, uh, Mads?” Sarah spoke up, to which Draire nodded his head,

“She sent a message to the group chat that she wasn’t coming, so yeah,” 

“Oh, d-did she?” Draire nodded again, “N-Nice suit, by the way, Draire,” Sarah commented, earning a smiled from Draire, and a nod of approval from Quinten who was now standing next to Draire,

“He looks... Suits... He looks good in suits, does he not,” Quinten struggled to get out. Draire quickly turned to Quinten to see him smile, but not one of those smiles he’d grown to know Quinten for. No, it was... a genuine, soft, smile.

* * *

“So, how’s the kids, Shavoi?” Jon asked, trying to make light conversation. The other man shrugged and took a swig of his drink, 

“Savita’s got a babysitter looking after her, and Thaneesha is currently at work, so you tell me, Mr. Eyeball man,” Jon rolled his eyes and took a sip of his own drink,

“I’m not going to use my abilities just to sate my own curiosity about your children, Shavoi,” Shavoi chuckled and shrugged,

“Well, Why not?” Jon sighed,

“I’m just not going to. Tell me about the wife,” Shavoi shook his head,

“Tell me about the husband,” Jon took in a breath and let it out, picking up his drink to take yet another sip at the same time as Shavoi, 

“Fine, I’ll tell you about Martin, but he’s just in the other room talking with your wife, I don’t see why you can’t just go and ask him,”

“You seem to like talking about him,” Jon nearly choked on his drink,

“H-He’s my husband! Of course I like to talk about him!” Shavoi let out a loud laugh,

“Well, tell me about the latest thing that happened at Martin’s work, then,” 

* * *

“Now, Do you, Perry Holdin, take Lusmon Kart as your lawfully wedded Wife?”

“I do,”

“And Lusmon Kart, do you take Perry Holdin as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do”

“You may kiss the bride,”

And they did. It was a sweet kiss, one Lusmon was anticipating for months. Perry was almost completely off cigarettes now, and Lusmon couldn’t be more glad. The lack of smoke on her lips made it all the more better, and more sweeter. Lusmon was the first to pull away, not wanting their kiss to last too long at the wedding in front of everyone,

“I love you, Perry...”

“Mmm... Love you too, Apple,” Lusmon couldn’t stop the blush that quickly took over her face at Perry’s pet name. No matter how many times Perry called her Apple, it would never cease to make her blush. Perry rested her head on Lusmon’s shoulder and she could head Briar cheering from the side, louder than anybody else.

* * *

“I’ve heard Briar yell, but I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard Briar, like.. Scream, Y’know?” Sarah just nodded her head as Thorn spoke. She wasn’t sure what to say. She just now realized that she may or may not like Thorn more then a friend should, and she was nervous that she’d do something, anything, to mess their friendship up. She’d only just figured it out when she saw Thorn in the suit, and she was already scared she’d screw it up, “I knew she was loud, but like, wow,” Thorn continued. Then there was a pause, and Suddenly Thorn was holding her face, “Are you okay?” 

“What?”

“Oh god, no, don’t you dare do that Dissociation shit on me,” Thorn’s voice grew stern, but her face remained mostly the same, plain expression, 

“I... I was just Zoned out, is all,” 

“Okay. Good. Can’t have you forgetting who you were,” Thorn chuckled, then she dropped her hands to Sarah’s shoulders, “Are you sure you’re okay, though? You seem quite out of it?” Sarah could she the concern on Thorn’s face. She watched as Thorn’s large eyebrows wrinkled and her small, upturned noise scrunched in worry. In worry for her, 

“I-I... I-I’m fine, d-don’t worry about it, please,” Thorn shook her head and looked her in the eyes,

“Somethings got you nervous or scared. The weddings over, it’s the after party now, and I’m not feeling pressure from an after party, so what is it?” Sarah let out a breath,

“I don’t want to ruin what we have...” Thorn’s eyes widened. They actually widened at that, and Sarah instantly knew she said something wrong,

“Is that supposed to mean you like me, too?” Sarah slowly nodded her head, ashamed of herself... Then the realization hit her,

“Too?” Thorn hesitated before nodding,

“I’ve kinda had a crush on you almost the moment we first met on the first day...” 

“Oh... I... Well, I... Is it still a crush if it’s reciprocated?” Sarah asked, nervously. Thorn shrugged, 

“We’ll have to find out, won’t we,” a smile. An honest to god Smile from Thorn. It was amazing. Sarah could bask in Thorn’s smile for ages. She leaned forward into Thorn who welcomed her and wrapped her arms around her in a tender embrace.

* * *

Quinten was... scared, for lack of a better word. Not necessarily fearful, per see, but... scared. Draire’s sudden friendliness was worrying him. Did he accidentally do something to scare Draire? Was it calling him Dre? Was that why? Draire wasn’t avoiding him, so if the nickname was a problem, he didn’t see why that would make him friendlier, and it baffled him,

“Which cake did you get, Quin?” Quinten instantly felt his face heat up, and he knew his face was even more pink then usual,

“Q-Quin?” He stammered. Draire’s face went red and he slowly nodded,

“If you can call me Dre, I get to call you Quin,” Quinten nodded. He so desperately wanted to tell Draire his real name. The one he was born with, the one his mother gave him. The one he’d known himself as for years before he had to get it changed. He so desperately wanted to hear Draire speak his true name and he so desperately wanted to tell Draire everything. Oh god, he was going soft. 

“Quin?” Draire asking for him interrupted his thoughts before he could get further into the rabbit hole that was his mind,

“I apologize...” Draire rolled his eyes,

“Y’know, I always thought you were a weird, creepy guy, but you’re actually... uh, w-well... you’re a real nice guy, actually,” Quinten tried his best to smile back, “What do you consider us?”

“Excuse me?”

“Like, Friends, best friends, close friends, or what?” Quinten shrugged,

“Best Friends?”

“Wrong answer,”

“Wha-“

“I know you secretly like me, and since I like you back, it’s Boyfriends. That’s right, this is how I’m doing my confession, so what, get off my dick,” Quinten couldn’t help but laugh at the last part, 

“It... It is most defi-“ he stopped himself mid sentence and tried to find the words to speak in the way the others did, “That is one way to do it, Yes,” He spoke, causing Draire to break into a fit of laughter. Quinten smiled fondly as Draire laughed.

* * *

“Ah, young love...” Martin gave Jon a strange look, “What?”

“Ah, Young love?” Martin repeated, “really? Don’t you think it’s a bit cliché?” Jon shrugged,

“I mean... Lusmon and Perry got married,” he bang to list off, “Thorn and Sarah are now aware of each others feelings, Quinten and Draire are... Wow, okay, they’re boyfriends now, I guess,”

“Really?!” Jon nodded,

“Yup. Also at least two more new couples, but we don’t know them so I won’t bother to mention them,” Martin nodded, then placed his chin on Jon’s head, wrapping his arms around his waist, “Martin?”

“Jon?” Jon leaned into Martin’s touch and Martin was more than accepting. Martin placed a kiss to Jon’s forehead,

“I love you, Jon,” Jon hummed,

“I love you too, Martin,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering, which I doubt anyone was, but here is my OCs sexualities and such!  
> Thorn- Demigirl, Bisexual  
> Sarah- Female, Lesbian  
> Quinten- Male, Pansexual  
> Draire- Trans Male, Demisexual  
> Lusmon- Female, Bisexual  
> Briar- Genderfluid, Asexual, Panromantic  
> Perry- Female, Lesbian
> 
> The new members of ASS are honestly filler characters cuz it felt unlikely to just have a club that was only ASS and I know it’s fiction and it doesn’t need to make sense, but here’s them, anyway  
> Darius- Male, Straight  
> Jino- Male, Asexual, Biromantic  
> Celia- Female, Bisexual  
> Madison- Female, Bisexual  
> Shavoi Raja- Male, Straight


End file.
